So, the other day, I got curious about lesbian tennis players. Not just the legends everyone knows, but kinda, who’s out there now, who’s been open about it historically. Seemed like a simple enough thing to look into, right?
Fired up the old laptop and started digging. The big names popped up straight away, of course.
- Billie Jean King
- Martina Navratilova
Okay, solid start. Giants of the game. Absolute legends, everyone knows them, or should. But then I tried looking for more, maybe players from recent years or ones not always in the headlines.
Finding More Info Was Tougher
And that’s where things got kinda messy. I spent a good hour or two just clicking around. Lots of digging through articles, forum threads full of gossip, you know the type. It wasn’t just a clean list waiting for me. Felt like half the stuff was speculation, or old articles focusing on the ‘drama’ when someone came out way back when, not really celebrating them or their game.
It was surprisingly hard to find straightforward info beyond the absolute icons. You’d find lists, sure, but then people online argue about who ‘counts’ or if someone is ‘really’ out unless they made some huge public announcement. Felt weird, like wading through noise instead of just getting facts. I just wanted to know who was part of the community, not read debates about it.
Got me thinking, why the big deal? You can find out what car another player drives or their favorite food easy enough, plastered everywhere. But finding a simple list of out players? Felt like pulling teeth sometimes. It’s like the info is either hidden away or wrapped up in gossip columns instead of just being… normal information.
Maybe it’s about privacy, and that’s fair enough, athletes deserve privacy like anyone else. But it also felt like the sports world, or maybe just the media around it, is still kinda awkward about it, even now. Like, we celebrate Navratilova now for her courage and everything, but man, reading about what she and Billie Jean King went through back then… rough stuff. You’d hope things would be simpler now.
Reminded me of this time I was just chatting about tennis down at the local courts, nothing serious. Mentioned one of the well-known out players, can’t remember who exactly, and this older guy just scoffed. Didn’t say anything nasty out loud, just made this dismissive sound, like it was something weird. Stuck with me. It’s like some folks still aren’t comfortable, even decades later, even when talking about top athletes.
So, yeah, my little research project didn’t give me the neat little list I expected. Found the legends, sure. Found some others maybe, names like Greet Minnen or Alison Van Uytvanck came up. But mostly found it’s still a bit of a complicated topic to just… look up. You end up digging through opinions and old news more than just finding players. Kind of a letdown, honestly. Just wanted to know who the players were, appreciate their part in the sport, not get bogged down in all the rest.
